It’s not personal. It’s just business. That’s one of the closing lines in a Boston Herald piece today on why the Celtics have to trade Ray Allen ASAP in order to A) put this Celtics season back on track and B) really set out to re-build the team around Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins. And they couldn’t be more right – Ray must go.

No team is going to take a hobbled Kevin Garnett. No one is going to take Rasheed Wallace‘s out-of-shape, three-ball-launching, no-rebounding act and the multiple years left on his deal. But a healthy Ray Allen and his (almost) $20 million expiring contact? That’s a different story, and most teams in the League would most likely be willing to listen.

There is clearly a rift in the Celtics’ locker room, and I am sure that a lot of it has to do with Rondo and Perkins having grown tired of being dictated to by older guys that they – especially Rondo – outplay every single night. This is clearly Rondo’s team going forward, and the sooner that Danny Ainge can make a deal to keep Boston highly competitive this season, while also building around Rajon, the better.

Join The Discussion

The words “re-build the team around Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins” pretty much mean “we intend to have a team that will complete for NJ’s soon to be record losing season in the future”.

Rondo untouchable? Trade him straight up for an actual top point guard and Boston would be untouchable. Perk does what he is paid to do, looks like a fucking douche while doing it, and is probably the most hated guy in the league by the refs for some reason. Nothing really special about him.

02.09.10 at 1:36 pm

Leroy Shonuff

The perfect trade for Boston would be Ray to the Sixers for Iggy and Kapono. It makes sense for both teams. Sixers get veteran Leadership and they get cap space next summer while the celtics get a great shooter off the bench in Jason plus Iggy can start at the 2 guard and he can defend the athletic guards and small forwards who have been killing them(Joe Johnson,rashard lewis and kobe)…plus now they have a good young nucleus that can run(Perkins,Baby,Iggy.Tony Allen and rondo)…this trade makes too much sense so we all know it’s never gonna happen

02.09.10 at 1:44 pm

Dennis Castro

Leroy, the Sixers would rather bring back Shawn Bradley and Vernon Maxwell before they help the Celtics out. You never trade within the division, especially to a hated rival.

02.09.10 at 1:45 pm

Austin Burton

@control — I know you hate Rondo (although I don’t know WHY you hate Rondo), but you have to face it that he is an elite PG already. Dating back to the ’09 playoffs, he’s been Boston’s best player and one of the 10 best (at least) PG’s in the League. Maybe Top-5.

02.09.10 at 1:48 pm

Steve Gomez 10a-3p on Hot 104.7fm Modesto, ca

If I’m Danny Ainge I try to make a few small moves to bolster the bench then ride it out and see how far they go in the playoffs. Let’s be real, this is the Celtics last legit chance with the Pierce, Garnett, Allen core. If they don’t win it all blow it up while Pierce and Garnett still have value and let Allen’s contract expire. I think there will be a lot of intrest in Pierce. And something tells me Mark Cuban would love to pair Garnett with Dirk. I think he’s one of the few owners that would be willing to take on Garnetts contract.

02.09.10 at 1:49 pm

dagwaller

Lol @ control, I don’t think it’s that bad, though.

02.09.10 at 1:52 pm

Celts Fan

@Leroy – great call. I’d do this deal for KMart and Noce, Caron Butler, Deng and Hinrich, or Iggy and Kapono, or Monta and A. Randolph. That’s it.

@Control – You’re the biggest hater ever. Step back. One guy’s an All Star, the other’s a damn good defensive center that’s not that far back from Andrew Bynum who gets slurped so much by Lakers fans it’s embarrassing.

02.09.10 at 1:56 pm

Celts Fan

@Steve Gomez – Pierce is the same to us as Reggie Miller was to Indi his last few years. They will NEVER trade him. It’s Ray or KG, and KG doesn’t have any trade value considering the HUGE contract and knees that are basically dust. You can ride those 2 aging vets with more young talent around them though. Ease the team from Truth and KG to Rondo and let them fade to black as their roles slowly decrease over the next few years. As for Ray. I love him and I’d love to see us keep him, but that team cannot win as it’s constructed now and we need to get younger (Ray’s openly talked about resigning for much less this off-season, so maybe we could still make that happen even if we move him. That’d be the perfect scenario.) Even if we let his deal expire, we’re still over the cap next year, so we almost have to deal him. God I hate the business side of things…

02.09.10 at 1:57 pm

Captain Jean Luc-Picard

The Big 3 version 2.0 is getting old and hobbled. All three have years of wear and tear, as evidenced by the number of games missed per season. The club is going to need a major reboot and soon.

02.09.10 at 2:00 pm

Jayo

I don’t totally agree w/ Control but I understand his point. Neither Rondo nor Perkins can do what needs to be done to win games, i.e. put the ball in the bucket. You can’t rebuild a team around guys who can’t score. No matter how good you are on D, you still need to be able to get buckets efficiently to win in the L. Rondo MAY be a Top 5 PG but its a big step down from Paul, Nash, & Deron to the next group of PGs.

02.09.10 at 2:00 pm

UK's only Bobcat fan

I agree with Gomez, this team still has the third best record in the east, Pierce and Garnett are still putting up good numbers. Allen may have lost a little but he is still a premier 3 pt shooter.

on the other hand trading hmi while there is still some value in him and clearing some cap room makes sense too.

02.09.10 at 2:01 pm

Heckler

Celtics are better off keeping ray allen and letting him walk at the end of the season.

they are way over the cap and could use that extra $20mil to extend their own young players.

YES….let him walk for nothing.
they aint gonna win the chip, so way make a trade just for the sake of making a trade?!!?

02.09.10 at 2:08 pm

control

AB

The why is pretty complex. I guess it comes down to the same reason why I don’t know anything at all about the Jersey Shore cast, but I hate them…they are ugly looking douche bags.

Everything I have seen from Rondo’s game just doesn’t look good at all, the only thing he has going for him is his quickness (which might be top 5). I just don’t see why he has so many guys jocking on him when there are much better pgs out there. One is his overexposure playing with Boston (which seems to make everyone but Rayray an instant douche bag for some reason).

At least 10 of those guys are better, and would perform better in Rondo’s position, feel free to debate some of them, but I sure as fuck know at least the first 8 listed are unquestionably better point guards.

Celts Fan

Bynum sure does get way too much slurp action for a guy who ain’t proved shit yet. Perks is an aight defensive center, big solid guy who can get it done on that side of the court when the refs aren’t hating on him…but he is on his best day at about Eric Dampier’s level. Translated, that ain’t a piece you build your franchise around.

I am a big hater of Rondo, maybe he’ll make me eat crow someday, but I’m not worried about that day coming any time soon. Boston is saying Rondo is the guy they are going to build the future around, but honestly, how can you build around a point guard who can’t score worth shit? There are VERY few point guards you can “build” a team around (Nash, Kidd a few years ago, Paul and Deron really) and even then you need to have the perfect pieces. Building around Rondo would be purely stupid and unsuccessful.

Rondo is an aight passer, but he’s not a play maker along the lines of Nash, Kidd, Paul or LeBron…change Rondo and Nash and the Suns would be rocking out in the bottom 5 in the league…

02.09.10 at 2:14 pm

Name (required)

Rondo is a good point guard on an elite team, but he isnt an elite point guard. The Lakers, Mavs, Cavs and Magic would love to have him, but no crappy team would ever even think of building around a player like him and he wouldnt elevate an also ran to contender level.

02.09.10 at 2:33 pm

Chicagorilla

Quetion? If Rondo is the building block for the Celtics then why did he get such a small contract in the off-season? 5yr $55mil…that’s something like $11/yr (although his contract probably inclines each year).

You know who else got $55mil? Vajayjay. Turkelou. Lamarcus Aldridge. While Aldridge and Turk are very good all-star level players, they aren’t franchise builders. Vajayjay got $50 mil because Ferry is an idiot, but 8pts 8reb don’t really warrant 50. So what does that say about Rondo’s actual worth? Apparently the rest of the L don’t really think he is WORTH a max extension or someone would have told him so.

Bottom line, lets cool out on the elite PG and franchise player $h!t for Rondo. He is a 3rd-4th best player kinda of guy who is only a compliment to better players. He doesn’t make anyone better.

As for Perkins, special? Special ED maybe, but not special as a basketball player. He’s out of the L in 5 yrs anyway when people figure out he sucks donkey nuts.

@Leroy
“plus now they have a good young nucleus that can run(Perkins,Baby,Iggy.Tony Allen and rondo”

did you just include The Gooch and Perkins as part of a “RUNNING NUCLEUS”? are you f^king serious. is this happening…is this really happening. Did I really read that crap. My eyes are bleeding now. Thank you!

@control,

No need in arguing with any of them about Rondo. They can’t see past the ESPN goggles (ESPN happens to be located near Boston…hmmm). I just pray my team never becomes a favorite of ESPN in these day an ages of overhype (they’ve already ruined UNC for me).

02.09.10 at 2:41 pm

LakeShow84

Cant wait for Pierce and RayRay to be gone so everyone can see what Rondo is really made of..

Even TP needed a mid range game to keep teams honest once they started game planning him and hes a way better finisher than Rondo..

Funniest part is Rondo is tearing that team down.. i have a feeling he is the main culprit of the chemistry issues.. And i gives a fluck if hes outplaying said vet’s you know ur role, youngsta.. What ever happened to old school values??

Like i said trade Stuckey, Brooks or Devin Harris to Celtics and they mighty contenders again.. And those are BOTTOM SHELF PG’s..

02.09.10 at 2:46 pm

Mike Honcho

Is this a serious conversation? “Rebuild around Rondo and Perkins”????? WTH!??!! Rondo and Perkins??? One can’t shoot and the other is just mad at his own face! Seriously? You trade Ray, who’s the only player on the team who can continuously do it all, and work to rebuild chemistry throughout the rest of the season by bringing in some new dude?

If anything, I agree with Control, that they need to ship Rondo off. He’s a smart PG, but he can’t/doesn’t shoot! Pierce is too fat to be the same player, KG is too banged up, Ray can only do but so much, Perkins is a jerk and Sheed just doesn’t care half the time.

The Celts need to just rest Pierce and KG and put Big Taco on a diet and drop a few spots in the playoffs and make a late run. A trade ain’t gonna do it, especially not Ray.

02.09.10 at 3:08 pm

LakeShow84

Mad at his own face

LMAO

02.09.10 at 3:09 pm

Randomized

Have to agree with control here. Building around Rondo would be like building a house in a swamp. Horrible foundation leading to failure.

02.09.10 at 3:16 pm

Chicagorilla

“The only real muthaf^ka in the whole equation”–Katt Williams

sorry, I was watching his stand up last night and it just keeps going thru my head.

02.09.10 at 3:21 pm

Ko_Peso

I’ve been saying this same thing for the past few weeks. Not sure what Celtics’ team Control has been watching, but the Rondo I see should never be traded. The Ray Allen for K-Mart and Nocioni deal didn’t sound bad at all.

02.09.10 at 3:28 pm

ab_40

if your starting point guard is shooting free throws at a 60% clip and the play offs are nearing you’re in trouble. I know ray is gettin a bit older. buy from feb 19 till may 1st there are gonna be at least 20 players released some of which will be realy good players and I think that unless they get an all star caliber player in return they’re gonna stay put get healthy and see if this version of the big three is gonna be ballin next summer. oh and the celts got a stopper he just was injured half the season his name is marquis daniels

Of course it didn’t sound bad to a Celts fan, the Kings would get screwed. No one who own a casino is that interested in salary cap relief. They need to put people in the stadium and Ray Allen for half the season ain’t gonna cut it. And if the $h!t ain’t working out with Kevin and Tyreke, what the hell do you think sendin the exact same player there would help?

02.09.10 at 3:53 pm

Celts Fan

@Control – hate if you want, but Perk is the exact opposite of Dampier. Both have limited games, but no one’s gonna confuse Perk w/ a WNBAer (they won’t confuse him w/ a guy with a lot of finesse either, but I’ll take a banger that can anchor the middle before a soft, kinda-OK scorer.) Again, a nice piece to keep, not necessarily the future guy, just someone you want to keep for the future (“build around” was just a bad term there, but the point is valid.)

Now onto your list:
Nash, Paul, Williams, Billups (can’t argue this)
Kidd (you must be watching ESPNClassic. This current Kidd can’t stop ANYONE and still isn’t a good shooter – just not awful yet.)
Parker (ya, probably, but he still can’t defend anyone)
Rose, Brooks (not yet, maybe soon, but not yet)
Calderon from last year (this guy makes Nash look like the best defender ever. NO WAY.)
Jennings (is he a product of getting tons of chances on a crap team or is he really this good already? He WILL be better, but right now, I’d take Rondo. He can’t defend anyone yet.)
Jameer Nelson (meh, not huge on him)
Westbrook (not yet. He’s about the same as Rondo, but Rondo’s done it longer, so slight edge to Rajon)
dunno if Monta Elis counts (he doesn’t)
Tyreke Evans (is a 2, which is why they’re gonna ship Kevin Martin)
Andre Miller (not anymore.)

By my count that’s 5 that are better and a few you can argue for. Still, if you’re making the case that someone’s garbage cuz they’re only at the bottom of the top 10 PGs in the NBA, you’re wrong.

02.09.10 at 3:54 pm

quest???

hilarous..build around rondo and perkings..lmfao hahahaahha

02.09.10 at 3:55 pm

Celts Fan

@Chicagorrilla – that move is clearly to shed bad contracts (saving future $$$/space) and get more playing time to the future of the team. Ray may even get bought out if that deal goes down.

02.09.10 at 4:12 pm

Roman

I dont know what the big fuss is about. The C’s bought their title and now its time to see them fade away. Dummies should of been rebuilding a long time ago. Kg was talkin so much smack about repeating and this and that. Bunch of clowns. I feel for Rondo- get ready for losing seasons. At least he got a taste of a championship season.

02.09.10 at 4:17 pm

You have no intelligence

First of all , its good to see that theres about 5 basketball fans that know something about basketball , perkins is a defensive stud , on the offensive end not so much , rondo now , is the 2nd best pg in the NBA , you all are stupid , he LEAD THE NBA IN FG % his free throws need alot of work , he leads ALL NBA PGS in rebounds as well , and is only behind chris paul in assists , and he will soon pass him with CP3 out . Check your stats fags before you go and say something you think . Rondos got the ring to proove it , he only averaged a triple double in the playoffs last year , jason kidd is garbage , tony parker is hurt every other week , monta ellis turns the ball over as many times as he scores , you guys r dumbasses haha . yo how bout this 17 CHAMPIONSHIPS AND COUNTING BITCHESSSSSSSSSSSSSS

02.09.10 at 4:33 pm

Name (required)

Allen wont get traded, the Cs want an upgrade and the teams with something they want will all want young talent aswell as the Exp contract. The Kings arn’t giving up Kmart AND Noch just to rent Ray for 2 months, especialy when they know that come summer after free agency SOME teams will have cap space and be willing to part with real assets to aquire a proven player.

02.09.10 at 5:13 pm

barons beard

Who in their right mind wants to build a franchise around Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins?

02.09.10 at 5:32 pm

Scoob

Injuries and age have played a major role into why Boston is playing the way they are now. I do think a trade is needed because clearly, they are not going to get back to the chip any time soon. Even if you brought in a younger scorer, the Cavs, Magic, and Hawks are much better than the Celtics and have the core players to make continual pushes for the chip. After this season, Ainge will need to go the Nas route. Destroy and Rebuild (shout out to QB).

02.09.10 at 6:59 pm

Guitar Hero

I’d rather rebuild around Lou Williams and Sammy Dalembert.
Geez.

02.09.10 at 7:04 pm

Leroy Shonuff

@Castro…I understand that logic, but it’s dumb to be honest. By making that move they open up 18 million this summer in cap space. Also just making the 8th spot isn’t what they need. Get Allen, miss the playoffs get a top ten pick plus move Samuel and they could be a possible get a good free agent and the sixers is a playoff team next year. They have the young talent(lou,jrue,mareese,young)…but they won’t do that…

Also the idea that building a team around rondo and perkins is dumb. But moving Ray and getting iggy they could contend for a title for the next two years. Also this summer I believe they should buyout wallace contract and go after a midlevel free agent who is young…but they won’t.

02.09.10 at 7:37 pm

QQ

KG maybe a mummy right n0w, but I see a couple of teams rush for that trade in a heartbeat. Dude’s a fucking bitchass, but he still has game.

And while I agree Rondo is one of the best PG’s in the game right now, don’t fucking anoint him as the future yet. Without the big three, I don’t think Rondo can lead this team in a 50 win season. Just admit it, Rondo playing like a beast = having THREE (yes, that’s fucking 3) HOF caliber players in your squad. Don’t muddle that, cause that is a FACT.

02.09.10 at 9:11 pm

arisloco

@ Mike Honcho

LOL at “mad at his own face”

02.10.10 at 12:22 am

babyboi

rajon rondo got facked up shoulders and an alien head (ala sam cassell)

02.10.10 at 8:11 am

Celts Fan

@QQ – Rondo’s best games have come when he’s been starting next to Tony Allen and/or Scal. Not saying guys wouldn’t kill for 2 HOFers, but let’s not act like they’ve all been healthy all year and that they’re all 26 still either…

02.10.10 at 8:59 am

Diego

Concur with Celts Fan above (and basically on all his posts under this article). Hate Rondo and Perkins if you will, but they certainly are not the Celtics’ problem.

Really, Ray has done alright, but he simply is best trade chip.

@ QQ: No, Garnett has next-to-no game these days–particularly down in the paint–, in contrast to Rasheed who has precisely no game down in the paint these days. Garnett may shuffle to a few more teams ala a Patrick Ewing or Shaq before retirement, but he pretty much is done.

I don’t know why NBA GMs, scouts and knowledgable fans cannot see that players (particularly big men) get old. But instead, they clamor for their teams to sign guys like Ben Wallace (Chicago a few years ago) and Rasheed, like they are fresh meat.

02.10.10 at 9:10 am

anime

Not a Celtics fan and will never be. Build a team around Rondo and Perkins? Not a good idea. This will definitely put the Celtics down the bottom like they did befor the Big 3. Rondo thinks he is the best PG, crap!!!! He is just fast and he trash talk too much. And Perkins is Darth Maul look-alike. What? Are we making a sequel of Star Wars again?

02.10.10 at 4:11 pm

royal bloodline

ok, i can see the stupidness in inferring that kendrick perkins is a franchise player. but rondo? I’d take him over a lot of PGs in the league today. the only weakness to his game is his inability to shoot. last I checked, chris paul has his own shooting woes. rondo is probably the best rebounding PG in the game, and arguabally the fastest. he’s also a better defender than most PGs in the league. another side-note is that he has already led his team to a championship. the only reason he’s not at 20pts 10ast every night is because for some reason, doc rivers wants to have pierce dominate the ball.

(whoever said chauncey billups is better that rondo is sadly mistaken. since they both have a ring, the only thing billups does better is shoot. since he is ancient, he can no longer defend the top PGs in the league.)

over all though, Ray-Ray is the man to trade. i know people say crap like “he’s an extra ballhandler on the court with rondo; he’s too good of a shooter.” the truth about the matter is that he’s as old as dirt, his jumshot is beginning to fail him, he could never defend (this is even magnified buy the fact he’s as old as dirt), and he can no longer create his own shot (he relys on curls off of screens to get 90 percent of his points.)

also, kendrick perkins, while not someone to build a team around, is definately a keeper. he can defend, rebound, score garbage points, has great size, and has a very intimidating look on his face 99 percent of the time.

02.10.10 at 4:29 pm

royal bloodline

just as a side note, do any females blog here? maybe we can hook up or something.